‘This is the kind of book that makes you want to read out snippets to whoever is near. I did this so often that my husband quickly became exasperated and took the book away from me. However, within 10 minutes of him starting to read it, he was doing exactly the same thing’. —So says reader […]
Tag: review
Cafeteria Review: CERN
Several Improbable Research persons (I am one of them) are at CERN for a few days. We sometimes dine in CERN’s main cafeteria, and are delighted at the goodness of the food and the general atmosphere — and equally delighted at the kindness, friendliness, and relaxed cheeriness of the people who work at the cafeteria. It’s […]
When computers gather reviews: The Haslam Case
When a web site gathers book reviews automatically, having a computer do it flatly by recipe, the results sometimes come out like this, from the Cakitches web site: Haslam, Nick. Kinds of Kinds: A Conceptual Taxonomy of Psychiatric Categories Philosophy, Psychiatry,” e Psychology – Volume 9, Number 3, September 2002, pp. 203-217 The Johns Hopkins […]
Do-It-Yourself Reviewing, Scientificalistically
The Retraction Watch blog tells of a resourceful, if not altogether successful, person. The report begins: South Korean plant compound researcher faked email addresses so he could review his own studies Scientists frustrated by the so-called “third reviewer” — the one always asking for additional experiments before recommending acceptance — might be forgiven for having fantasies […]